In life, the two things that cannot be escaped are death and paying taxes.

As the record sold well, the more money the Carpenter brothers shared. Excluding the money to buy a house, plus the money distributed this month, the money in the Carpenter brothers' account has increased instead of decreasing, and it has exceeded one million.

"With so much money, the tax to be paid this year will be very high!" Bart said to Angel.

Indeed, in the United States, the higher the income, the more taxes you will pay. Because of such heavy taxes, every American, when dissatisfied with government policies, justifiably says, "It's a waste of our taxpayers' money." ”

In the United States, many taxes are paid by individuals, and as long as there is economic income and expenditure within the United States, whether it is a native or an outsider, they must pay taxes.

The taxes in the United States are income tax, social security tax, medical tax, property tax, bonus tax, inheritance tax, and so on.

What bothers Bart now is mainly income tax. This tax threshold is close to zero, and even if you have to pay taxes on your income of $5 a year, you will have to pay a progressive tax system, with a minimum tax rate of about 10% and a maximum of 38%. This is an income tax set by the federal government, and in addition to this, the states also charge a separate income tax, which is generally around 5%. The Carpenter brothers' combined annual income is already more than a million dollars, and if they pay income tax, they will have to pay at least three or four hundred thousand dollars this year!

That's a staggering amount of tax! Let Bart and their hearts hurt so much that they are dripping blood! With such a large amount of income to be handed over to the government, how can they be willing?

As for tax evasion, don't even think about it!

In the United States, the tax regulations and tax system are very strict and strict, except for a few wealthy people who evade taxes on their property or inheritance through lawyers, it is difficult for ordinary people to avoid paying taxes.

In the United States, I often hear such a joke: Americans cannot escape two things, one is death, and the other is that taxes cannot be escaped. The tax bureau randomly audits about 5% of taxpayers every year, and once tax evasion is discovered, not only must they pay back taxes and interest, but also be heavily fined.

"Since we can't evade taxes, let's invest in a new company!" Alex suggested.

Yes, you can't avoid taxes, but there are ways to avoid taxes reasonably!

In the United States, there are many ways to avoid taxes, but the ultimate solution is one means: invest! Whether it is investing in stocks or real estate, the government is essentially asking people to spend the cash they have and turn it into assets. The U.S. government encourages people to spend, but it doesn't support people saving, believing that people don't need to have much cash in a healthy social system.

Bart objected: "New company? What about record labels? Who will manage it? ”

"Let Angel take care of it, isn't she already in charge?" Alex said as he looked at his parents.

Bart was slightly taken aback, he didn't expect Alex to suggest this. However, Angel was a little eager to listen to it, and she was already involved in the daily affairs of the record company when Alex and the others recorded their second record.

In the beginning, Angel was not very comfortable with the company's environment. However, she soon discovered that working at a record label was no different from doing things at home, as long as everything was properly arranged.

As the president of the company, Rudy is in charge of the general direction of the company's development. Angel is the head of the finance department, mainly responsible for various expenses, and she is like a housekeeper, keeping an eye on everyone's work and expenses.

As for Bart, he holds the title of a director and has nothing to do. He didn't know how to manage or music, so he had to let him watch others go about their work. This annoyed Bart a little, and now even more annoyed that Alex seemed to be taking away his title of director.

Just as Bart was about to say something, Alex immediately said, "The new company can be handed over to Bart to be managed by you, I think you are more interested in electronic and mechanical things." ”

Bart's spirit came up, and he asked with some excitement: "Electronics and mechanics?" What is it used for? ”

Alex smiled mysteriously, "Do you remember my patents?" I'm now using what I've invented and making a product, a good product. It's sure to be a big hit! ”

Everyone felt a little curious, what exactly Alex had made, so confident.

I saw Alex take out a small rectangular box from his pocket, this small box is not big, it is a little longer than a soap box, and a little thinner. It also has a shiny antenna, and if you look closely, you can see two rotating buttons and switches, as well as a horn.

"What is this?" Richard reached out and took the box.

Alex laughed, "Guess? ”

Bart and Angel also gathered around, fumbling around, trying to find out the mystery of this little thing.

Richard soon notices that there is a switch on one side of the box, he turns it on and the horn goes off. A piece of music came from inside, but it was a little unclear.

"Ahh It's a radio! Richard shouted in surprise. He had never seen a radio so small, and the radio he had usually seen was a large, bulky wooden box that required both hands to hold. The radio in his hand only needs one palm and gently holds it.

Bart and Angel also saw that this thing was a radio, but they didn't expect Alex to really shrink the size of the radio, and it was still so small.

The radio was made from materials that Alex had asked Dr. Shockley, who had thought it would be easy to make a transistor radio, and had assembled a radio himself when he was in college. He knew the structure of the radio so well that he could make it in minutes as long as there were parts.

What he didn't expect was that the level of electronics in this era was too low, and there were no many parts, and even if he barely made it, he could only replace the existing tube radio with transistors. The size doesn't change much, let alone get it in your hands. This annoyed him so much that he thought to himself, there is nothing to do himself.

He told Shockley about his idea, and received strong support from the other party. With the materials provided by Shockley, Alex spent a lot of effort to make the parts one by one. The first was the horn, the smallest horn he asked for from Shockley. Then there are circuit boards, which in this era did not have integrated circuit boards, but fortunately this is not complicated, and Alex was able to design and produce them himself.

The most important thing was the battery, and he found that there were no AA batteries on the market, so he had to ask Dr. Shockley for help again. If it really doesn't work, he's ready to use the flashlight's battery. Luckily, Shockley is well-informed about this, and he knows that Energizer has a small battery that hasn't been launched yet, but it's already in use in the lab.

Alex got the small battery and looked at it, isn't this an AA battery? He immediately added the battery to it. The antenna technology of this era has matured, but there is no model that Alex wants, so he had to make a retractable antenna by himself.

Among them, the resistive elements, capacitive elements, various buttons, spring wires, etc., which are required are available in the laboratory, not to mention diodes. In the beginning, Alex just wanted to make a simple radio that only needed four diodes. It turned out later that the quality of the radio that came out of this may not be very good.

So, he simply completely redesigned it and did it to the specifications of the radio he had assembled before. This new radio is much better than the current ones on the market, and after using it, Shockley and others are full of praise. They asked Alex to make one for themselves.

The one in Richard's hand now is the one Alex has done the best. It lasts for a long time, has a wide range of channels, clear and stable sound, and most importantly, is small in size, light in weight, and easy to carry.

In terms of price, the tube radio is thrown a few blocks away, and Alex is convinced that as long as such a radio is on the market, it will definitely be able to occupy the existing radio market.

Bart snatched the radio from Richard's hand and studied it carefully: "The sound quality of this radio is really good, and the appearance is also beautiful!" ”

Judging from his years of experience, as long as it is produced, it will not be sold. In addition to his interest in mechanics, he also studied electronics. He knows how attractive this kind of electronics is to people today.

"Alex, is the patent for this radio yours?" Bart asked excitedly, and he said with some concern, "Will other companies be able to make radios like this?" ”

"No, it won't! How could my patent be breached so easily? Alex said confidently.

Just such a simple radio has added more than a dozen patents to Alex's patents. He was convinced that it would be years before other companies wanted to circumvent his patent and invent another radio of the same type. Not to mention anything else, just the patent of the integrated circuit board can make other companies helpless, if Alex does not authorize it, those people will not be able to get around it anyway.

Angel also stares at the radio, and she is also happy for Alex's invention. She said, "Then let's open another company!" This company makes these radios. ”

Bart reluctantly withdrew his eyes from the radio, he thought for a moment and said, "That's just right, I can get Old Joe to help out." ”

Bart had invited Old Joe to the record label before, but Old Joe was not very interested in working at the record company, so he refused. Only Deere and Paul join the Carpenter family's record label, and they are placed in the company by Bart, partly to monitor the company and partly to repay their friends.

It's just that, like Old Joe, Bart is not interested in working in a record company, and he is not suitable for studio work. Now that he has such a good opportunity, he thinks that if he pulls Lao Qiao, he will definitely be able to do it.

Alex thought for a moment, and then said, "It's okay, Old Joe knows a lot about these things after all. However, I ask you to produce this radio as soon as possible and put it on the market as soon as possible. ”

"But we don't have a factory now, and we don't have a production line or workers. If you want to rebuild a factory, it will take a long time to build it. Not to mention that the radio was going to be launched immediately. Bart said distressedly.

Angel said, "Why don't we buy another radio factory?" With on-site factories, production lines and workers, it doesn't take much time to rectify them. ”

"That's right! We can indeed acquire a factory. If you have money in your hand, you are not afraid that the other party will not sell it. Bart shouted, excitedly.

Alex also smiled: "Yes, it can be used to avoid taxes!" ”

Of course, the operation of specific tax avoidance methods is not so simple. They still had to find a professional accountant to consult in order to really avoid taxes, and Bart and they finally found an electronics factory in the suburbs of Chicago after consulting with someone. This factory not only produces radios, but also some other electronic products, which are very large and have a lot of workers.

The problem is that the owner of this factory is not doing well and is already planning to file for bankruptcy. At first, he was going to sell it, but no one was willing to buy it for a million. He was unwilling to lower the price, so he had no choice but to prepare to file for bankruptcy.

"My factory is so big, even if I file for bankruptcy, I can sell it for a million!" The boss said.

Alex also looked at this factory and found that the equipment inside was okay, but the products produced were outdated, so they kept losing money. In this era of rapid replacement of electronic products, many companies cannot keep up with the pace of the times and are eliminated. This was the fate of the factory, but it is likely to have a different future after it is acquired by the Carpenters.

There is no problem with the assets of this factory, they have already consulted with a lawyer, and the debt is not much, which is completely within the acceptable range. So, he asked Bart to sign a contract with the boss on the spot, and as long as the relevant formalities were completed, the factory would belong to them.

In this way, a company called "Carpenter Electronics" was established silently. This company, often referred to simply as a CPT company, is an emerging company in electronics.